Naruto: A Reason to Live
by DigitalSalute
Summary: He sat up in his bed, drenched in sweat. The war had changed him, and he found it was getting harder and harder to sleep as the months passed. Coping with his own sadness and watching the people he cared about try to live with everything they had seen and done was starting to become torturous. He needed to find something to keep him going. He needed to find a reason to live.


Naruto: A Reason to Live

 **AN: I'm going to go ahead and get this out of the way, I'm not going to claim to be the biggest Naruto fan. I don't know all the details of every jutsu that is used in Naruto. Naruto, to me, is simply entertaining and amusing to watch and I am only writing this story because I enjoy writing. I would definitely appreciate feedback. Good, bad, it doesn't matter to me. I've only written one other fanfiction and I am currently still working on it. If you like my story I encourage you to read the other one and give me feedback on it. One last thing, this story will not be the most action packed. In fact it will probably be a story of how everyone is coping with everything that happened during the war with Madara and Kaguya. I'm sure you are getting quite bored reading this authors note (if you even bothered to read it) so without further ado, I present my first Naruto fanfic!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

The smell of cherry blossoms filled the air. A cool breeze nipped at his skin and the sound of crunching leaves under his feet reminded him that fall had fast approached Konaha. He was glad to finally be home.

The war had changed him, however. It changed everyone. Constant visions and nightmares kept him awake most nights, and since he had returned, not a single night went by that he didn't take a stroll through the village, just trying to clear his head.

He wasn't the only one doing this either. Most of the ninja in the village were seen at night, either walking through the village or sitting in front of their homes, crying and mourning the loss of their loved ones. Naruto had no tears left to cry. He had done all of his mourning on his own, away from everyone. He realized after his fight with Sasuke that he was no longer just the savior of the village. He was a leader, and while being a leader does not mean never crying or mourning, it would make the village as a whole feel less hopeless.

They lost Neji, and it hit no one harder than Lee. Even with the fighting and destruction happening all around them, Lee couldn't help but stop and mourn the loss of his friend and rival at that very moment. He cried and begged his friend to wake up and hold on long enough for Lee to find a medic. But it was no use. Neji was gone and not even Tsunade could save him.

No one had seen Hinata since the return to Konaha. Even though the ninja had been back for four months, she had not been seen outside of the Hyuuga compound. Naruto couldn't blame her. She had lost family. Naruto had felt the same way when Jiraiya died and he would've been lost in the darkness if it wasn't for Iruka.

Sakura had seen Naruto a few times at Ichiraku's, but didn't have the courage to stop and see him. She didn't have a good reason why either. He was still the same person. The same loving Naruto. However, she could not seem to force herself to approach him. Maybe, she wasn't ready.

Naruto still retained that same nonequivalent power shared only by Sasuke. They were recognized as gods in the shinobi world and no one alive today could come close to their power. It was something Naruto still had trouble coping with. Everyone looked at him differently. He was the savior, not only of Konaha, but of the world and had aided in the defeat of three of the world's strongest shinobi: Madara Uchiha, Kaguya, and Obito Uchiha.

His battle with Sasuke, while short lived, was one of the most devastating battles ever seen in the shinobi world. Craters littered the land surrounding the Valley of the End and the statues that were erected in memory of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were obliterated. Whether or not new ones would be built was not currently on the list of most important things at the moment. However, statues of Naruto were being constructed in nearly all of the Hidden villages. The statues would act as a memorial, listing the names of the ninja who died as well as those who lived. To Naruto's protest, the hidden leaf requested that a statue of him be made in the center of the village. While he was glad that he was finally receiving recognition and attention from the village, he considered this to be a bit too much. Tsunade, however, disagreed.

The Shinobi Alliance remained together. No one protested, no one thought it should be any different. The shinobi world was finally at peace, at least for the time being, which made missions scarce, few, and far between. The Kage's still had trouble seeing eye to eye with one another, but they put their pasts and personal beliefs aside for peace.

Naruto hadn't left the village since he had returned from the war and to be honest, he didn't mind a bit. He was tired, everyone was. It was time they all had a break from the dangers of the world for just a little while.

He continued his walk through the village, passing familiar faces despite the hour of night. He would smile and nod, and they would return that small act of kindness. However, the one person he wanted to see was nowhere in sight. He walked with no real destination, but found himself on the small bridge where Team 7 would meet before missions and training. He looked at the river beneath him and sighed. He thought he would be able to reunite his old team. Kakashi and Sakura were still in the village, but Sasuke would never again be able to join them on this bridge. They would never be able to reminisce the times they spent together, the memories they shared, and it broke Naruto's heart.

He heard footsteps approaching him. He whipped around, hoping to see a certain someone. Instead, he was greeted by his old sensei.

"Oh. Hey, Kakashi-sensei."

The veteran ninja gave him a warm eye smile and nodded toward him. Kakashi had become more grizzled since they got back. He let his hair grow a little longer, and covered his new sharingan with bandages, and even though one could only see his eye, Kakashi appeared sad and tired.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" Kakashi asked.

"I haven't slept since we got back. You know that." Naruto replied. Kakashi lifted himself onto the railing of the bridge and sat criss-crossed on top.

"Still haven't seen her have you?" Kakashi asked.

"Nope." Naruto responded." I mean, I've seen her from a distance, and I could easily catch up with her, but I can tell she's avoiding me and I don't want her to get angry at me."

"Well it appears like she's finally come to her senses, huh?"

Naruto looked passed Kakashi and saw a pink-haired figure approaching him.

"I'll leave you two alone. It looks like you need to discuss some things." Kakashi said. He hopped down from the railing, gave Naruto a pat on the shoulder, and continued on his way. As Sakura approached, Naruto could feel his heart beat faster in anticipation and anxiety. What was he going to say to her? What would she say to him? Would she be cruel, or understanding, or caring, or a little bit of it all?

Her feet touched the bridge and she looked up at Naruto from where she stood. They were a good distance away but Naruto still felt a little awkward. They simply stood in silence on the bridge for what felt like minutes, until finally Sakura spoke up.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto…" Sakura whispered. Naruto looked up from his feet and stared at her. He was about to speak when she cut him off. "I haven't been there for you over the months and it was because of my own weakness. No one has been more affected by the war than you, and I, your only teammate left, couldn't seem to be there for you in this difficult time."

"Sakura, I…" Naruto started, but couldn't think of the words to say.

"Naruto, you've always been there for me and I have been nothing but selfish and cruel towards you. I just want you to know how I actually feel." Naruto's heart stopped. Was she about to confess how she felt about him?

"Everything I confessed to you wasn't all a lie. I do love you Naruto, but not in the way I think you're wishing for. I love you as a brother and as someone who I believe will be there for me until the end." Naruto looked back down at his feet.

"Sakura, when we were kids I had the biggest, dumbest crush on you. As we got older, that crush developed into something a little more, but during the war I realized something." Sakura felt her heart clench. "I realized that I only love you in that same way. As someone who will always be there for you no matter what. I also realized that someone else who has always been there for me and who is willing to sacrifice everything for me is someone I should have given a chance to long ago." Sakura immediately knew he was referring to Hinata. She confessed her love to him when he fought Pain and has loved Naruto all of her life. If anyone deserved a chance, it was definitely Hinata.

"Sakura, you and Sasuke are my best friends and I love both of you. Even though I know there is no way to save Sasuke from the darkness he's fallen into, I know that I still have you, and as long as that remains consistent I think I can be happy." He gave her that trademark smile that made her heart melt.

She ran and hugged him as hard as she could, and he gladly reciprocated her actions. They pulled apart and started goofing off and reminiscing about the past. They laughed and recalled fond memories in their many years as friends. Before they knew it, the sky began to fill with orange and purple, and the sun started creeping over the horizon. They said their farewells and parted from each other's company, both feeling lighter and happier than they had in months. They would definitely have to make time to meet like that again.

Weeks passed and there was still no sign of Hinata. The Rookies all visited the compound but were turned away by the Hyuuga's servants, all on Hiashi's orders. Naruto left written letters to Hinata and tried visiting numerous times each day, but to no avail.

Eventually, Tsunade started sending him on missions again. Not to protect or to engage anyone, but as an ambassador of sorts. He traveled to the Sand Village numerous times to meet with Gaara and to encourage the people of the sand. He did the same with Kumo. He kept close, specifically to Gaara and the Raikage. They were by far his most powerful allies and it was important to keep them close in this time of peace.

The hope was that eventually there would no longer have to be a separation of lands, there could be one land renamed because of the peace that was brought together by Naruto and the Rookies in Konaha. There was no evidence of such a thing happening in the near future, but if trying to keep the peace was all Naruto had to do, he didn't think it would be so hard.

Naruto would spend weeks away from Konaha at a time in the many villages that joined the Shinobi Alliance. There was no hostility, no enemies at the moment, and the world reveled in how a boy of Naruto's age could accomplish so much in such little time. Naruto was truly a hero, and the days of war and famine seemed to be a thing of the past.

Every time Naruto would return home he would hope to see Hinata and be able to tell her how he felt. But even as the months passed, she still would refuse to see anyone. Until one day when Naruto had finally had enough waiting and demanded to see her. Despite having grown so much in such little time, he was still Naruto. The servants tried to speak to him and get him to leave the compound, but eventually gave in to the blonde's protests. If he really wanted to see Hinata no one would be able to stop him.

He walked through the compound, half angry and half concerned. Why would she shut herself out from the rest of the world? Was she angry, depressed or hurt? He had to know. He finally found the door to Hinata's room. He knocked and demanded that she open the door. When no response was heard from the other side of the door, Naruto slid the door open and peered inside.

He saw her sitting in front of a window. Piles of letters filled her room. She stared out, as if she hadn't heard him. He watched her for a moment. She was facing away from him, not moving. Almost like a statue. He called out to her, with no response. He spoke her name a little louder with the same result. Finally he yelled as loud as he could:

" **HINATA!"**

Her posture slacked slightly and she turned around. She looked at him with the eyes of someone who was visibly broken. Her hair had gone uncut since she had returned. Her soft features were replaced with stone cold grimaces and stares. He barely recognized her. When they were fighting she seemed so strong and unfazed by everything happening to her. It turned out that she was only burying her feelings. When she finally returned home there was nothing to do but let those feelings out. All the people that had died, Neji included, had left her scarred.

Hinata was a strong girl, but she was not ready for war at the time. No one was, but she took everything extremely hard. Almost as bad as Naruto did, only he was able to overcome the sadness for the most part and not let it completely overtake his life. It appeared that Hinata wasn't strong enough.

"I told the servants not to let anyone in here," Hinata monotonously spoke, "I requested to be left alone and…" Naruto ran and embraced her in a warm hug. Her eyes grew wide, and she melted into his arms. It wasn't hard to break her out of the trance she was in. If Naruto knew it would've been this easy, he would have done something months ago.

She cried softly into his shoulder, and spoke in muffled words Naruto couldn't understand. He just let her continue to cry. They stayed there for several minutes until Hinata exhausted herself. She looked up and into Naruto's eyes. He stared back. They sat and talked about what happened to themselves over the months. Hinata knew all about what Naruto had been doing, but Naruto could not say the same for her. She told him how she had basically been shut up in her room for the past several months. She was tired of watching people die and she thought that if she came out, she would lose control of her emotions and people would see her as a weakling.

Naruto refuted her notion, saying that no one thought she was weak, and that anyone who has seen what she had would no doubt be scarred by it. He was, of course, using himself as an example. She then realized that all the time she spent in the compound had been wasted. She vowed that she would get back on her feet and start training hard again, every single day. Naruto agreed to help her as much as he could.

Eventually they were spending nearly every day together, at least when they both weren't on missions. They were either training, eating, or simply just talking together all the time, and as time passed, the two grew closer and closer. Then right before Naruto's eyes, he began to realize that he more than just cared about Hinata. His feelings were becoming much stronger.

 **AN: So I hope this was at least somewhat entertaining. This was more of a set up chapter to be honest. As you can tell, I'm making time pass kind of fast. I intend for this to be a long term story. Many things will happen and ideas and thoughts are beginning to unravel in my mind. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and like I said, please give me lots of feedback! Thanks!**


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